Vajra (Macross)
The Vajra are an alien race that appear in Macross Frontier. History The Vajra were an ancient race of galactic insectoids that inhabited the galaxy that possessed natural Super Dimension capabilities. Long ago, the emergent Protoculture encountered them where they came to fear, adore as well as deify the large creatures. This led to them basing much of their technology on the Vajra including Space Folds, Super Dimension weaponry and even influenced the designs of Protoculture mecha. The Vajra were first intially encountered by Humanity near the central core of the Milky Way galaxy in the year 2040. A second contact was made eight years later by the 117th Long Distance Research Fleet. Eleven years before the start of the show, Grace Connor and Ranshe Mei were both part of the Research Fleet which began to study a captured Vajra in secret as well as the V-Type infection. During her study, Ranshe became infected with the V-type infection which began to slowly kill her but despite that she was compassionate to the captive Vajra the science expedition kept in their facility. Not only that, but her youngest daughter became infected by the Vajra parasites whilst she was still in her mothers womb. Connor attempted to mix both the zero-time fold communications of the Vajra with her implant network theory in an effort to control both Humanity and the Vajra. However, a large swarm of Vajra converged on the research expedition apparently attracted to the song "Aimo" by Ranka Lee and destroyed them with the only known survivor being Ranka herself who was saved by her brother. Unknown to many, Grace Connor also survived and she developed a hatred for the creatures but planned to ultimately fulfil her plan in the future. The destruction of the Research Fleet meant that little was officially known of the race except for their name. In 2059, the Frontier Fleet made official first contact with the Vajra where hostilities erupted between the two sides. However, very little was truly known of this threat and as events continued, only pieces of information were learnt about the Vajra. Despite fighting off initial attacks, the Vajra made constant raids against the Frontier fleet leading to the devastating infestation of the main flagship that killed countless citizens which only heightened hatred amongst the NUNS forces. On one of the nests of the Vajra, Grace activated the Dimension Eater weapon which destroyed the planet but not before the nest escaped. In an effort to stop the senseless deaths and destruction, Ranka Lee believed that through her pet Ai-Kun who she learnt was a young Vajra that she could perhaps bridge the gap between the two races and bring about peace. With the aid of Brera Stera, the two journeyed to the Vajra homeworld in the center of the galaxy in order to make peace with them. In the culmination of the conflict, Connor managed to track down Brera Stern and Ranka Lee to the Vajra homeworld at the centre of the galaxy. Through Ranka who served as the "Little Queen", Connor managed to gain control of the entirety of the Vajra and use them as her tools in an effort to bring about her plans. By manipulating the guilty Ranka Lee felt for causing the death of the research fleet, Connor managed to subvert control of the Vajra Queen and sought to unite Humanity under a single consciousness led by her in an effort to surpass even the Protoculture civilization. Overview Biology Vajra mecha appeared as insectoid designed biomechanical machines with built in weaponry and flight capabilities. They had a life cycle similar to insects in that they start off as eggs and once they hatch they become squirrel like green skinned pupa that size of a small animal. In time, they begin to grow larger to the size of a large dog after which they moult. Once this was complete, they emerge as a more insect looking creature that can fly through its wings and possessed sharp claws capable of damaging vehicles or organic beings. They are about the size of a car at this point and gather in swarms and made use of integrated weapons to attack enemies. After sometime, they begin to moult into the more larger mecha sized warriors. The Vajra's body's naturally produce Fold Quartz, a substance used by Humans to enhance as well as monopolise foldspace travel and communications. This was done so by exhibiting behavior of collecting the raw materials needed to produce the quartz such as interstellar substances or even fixed stars. They are grown by a Queen type Vajra who lays hundreds of eggs which slowly hatch and mature into a different Vajra strain. Furthermore, they are a constantly evolving organism with damage sustained by one being transmitted to the others allowing them to learn and adapt to attacks. In time, they become impervious to such weaponry and grow gradually stronger. This makes them immune to even reaction warheads and eventually heavy quantum beam attacks. However, they appear to be susceptable to the song of Ranka Lee which confuses them. Furthermore, the race were responsible for the unique V-type infection. This occured through contact with the Vajra and was produced by their fluids. After initial exposure, the infection remains within a host body and can be treated if discovered early. However, a lack of treatment results in the parasitic organisms emigrating to the spine and brain of the host. Once there, the parasites begin producing a deadly toxin that will ultimately lead to the hosts death. At this point, there is no possible cure for the disease. As its a blood and bodily fluid infection, the rate of infection itself was noted as being slow. A cure can be synthesized through the use of a serum produced from the Vajra's own body. While an intelligent and adaptive lifeform, the individual Vajra do not possess brains. Infact, they are capable of continuing to function even if their heads are destroyed to a certain degree. It was believed that a higher organism was controlling the actions of the Vajra. However, it determined that the Vajra's network of intestinal germs emit a type of fold wave which transmit information. The network was expanded to encompass the entire Vajra swarm with each individual being a single synapse among the race. As such, the species possess no concept of self or individual as they are a swarm that behave as a single entity. As such, it was considered that any form of communication with another race was useless as the Vajra were a network based organism that were sustained by fold waves. Variants One model of Vajra appear as beetle shaped models with a red carapace and a somewhat elongated face where four green eyes reside. The head can be destroyed with a mecha sniper cannon but the Vajra can still function on somoe level however the use of a energy blade thrusted from the chin seems to be capable of destroying the unit. Analysis by the Frontier Fleet states that the Vajra are bioweapons with an energised armor similar to that on Valkyries, the capacity to grow missiles internally and a built in fold system. They possess a small brain system which is nearly non-existant which suggests that these creatures are incapable of higher thought and are possibly controlled by another source. A large spear shaped weapon is carried on their back which is situated on a turret base allowing it to rotate in any direction. From this lance, the Vajra are capable of firing yellowish energy blasts that are capable of destroying a Macross Frontier starship as well as break the colony fleets domes. Their forward limbs contain an autocannon underneath the claw adding to its firepower. Finally two smaller limbs are present at the front which act as hands that are capable of crushing a Human easily. Their back also contains wings that can open up when the Vajra enter into an atmospheric environment like that within the domes giving them the power to flight in that environment but fold back in when they land or when they enter space again. They also possess a tail flagellum which acts as a weapon in combat. Another model of Vajra was identical to this version but possesses a more greyish carapace as well as a hammer shaped head and seems to lack the backmounted energy lance. Notes *The name Vajra shared a link with Sanskrit word in Hindu beliefs that referred to a mythical thunderbolt weapon of the gods. Appearances *''Macross Frontier'': External Link *Macross Compendium Entry Category:Species Category:Macross